


Tea with the King

by Isscha



Series: 30 Days of Flash Fiction 2018 [4]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Gen, M/M, Post-Second War with Voldemort, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-04
Updated: 2018-11-04
Packaged: 2019-08-17 17:25:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16520771
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Isscha/pseuds/Isscha
Summary: It was Arthur Weasley's birthday and his wife, his beautiful Molly, was having tea with the King and he had not even known she had received the invitation until she was on her way out.





	Tea with the King

Arthur stood leaning against the kitchen counter still staring at the door to the outside with his arms crossed, unmoved since his wife’s departure three hours prior.  He was too lost in his thoughts to be truly aware of the passage of time. It was all rather ridiculous, if he thought about hard enough. It simply wasn’t possible that his darling Molly-wobbles had left him for the muggle King.  

 

But the proof was there.  He wasn’t sure how he had missed it, but she was practically giddy as she left this morning with scarcely a kiss to his cheek, tittering about a tea with the King.  

  
Tea.

 

With the _King_.

 

His darling Molly has gone to tea with royalty...without him.  Him! Hadn’t when they married they had promised to share all such experiences with each other?

 

No, he was being ridiculous.  Utterly, and absolutely ridiculous.  It wasn’t as if she had forgotten that today was his birthday, not after this many years of marriage.

 

Though now that he was thinking about it, she hadn’t made any sort of allusion she was aware of the significance of the day.  She woke before him, as per usual, and was in the kitchen before he even started his shower. His kiss good morning was returned with the same amount of passion and pressure and fanfare as every other day of the week, that is, quick and with a small smile as she bustled around preparing everything for the day.

 

And when she had left the house, her only words were repeating the invitation to tea.  Nothing she said or did showed any sign of her remembering that today was her husband's birthday.  In all their years of being together, they had never missed the other’s birthday. He felt faint, and wondered rather dramatically if this signified the end.  He considered the idea that he was becoming hysterical in his panic, and resolved to cut that out as soon as he could.

 

Which would be as soon as Molly came home.

 

He glanced over at the spoon clock, scanning each name and where they were, as if comforting himself that his remaining family were all well and good.  His face was pointing happily at home whilst his children were all angled to point at their jobs, while Harry was over at the Malfoys - and that was a difficult task, convincing Molly to add the Malfoy’s manor to the clock when he wasn’t yet part of the family, but he knew it would only be a matter of time.  It had been easy to put Harry up there, he had scarcely needed to mention the clock when Molly held out the hand with Harry’s face smiling out from it and put it on the clock herself.

 

The clock was nearly twice the size it had been whilst raising his children, what with all the significant others and both current and potential grandchildren to track.  The clock was rather difficult to read now with how crowded it was, and no amount of magic could expand the clock any further. Perhaps he should work on little family pod clocks, instead.  His eyes brightened as he thought about it more. He could create two of every clock, gift one to the family pod and put the other up on the wall. Or perhaps he could make little family clocks for each pod, and add a clock for the significant others and a clock for the grandchildren so there were three large clocks on their wall.  

 

He would also make one for Fred and set it at his gravesite.  It would be an appropriate thing to do, in his mind, especially if he’s going to be making these clocks for everyone.  He could even customize each clock for the family completely by using materials that fit the family and the locations they frequent.

 

Perhaps he would even make one for Harry and Draco.  He wondered when the pair would realize just how much they meant to each other.  Everyone in the family by now knew it was coming, in fact everyone had been shocked and dismayed when Christmas had rolled around and while the flirting and casual touches were very much there, nothing suggested that the boys had acted on their feelings as both were still claiming to be horribly single and far too busy for romance.  Perhaps Christmas this year would be different. Either way, they would be getting their own clock just like everyone else.

 

He finally moved from where he was leaning against the counter and summoned his muggle Brio and pad of paper.  Out of all the inventions muggles had come up with, the pen and mechanical pencil might just be his favorite. Much easier than using a quill, with all the ink and feathers and knives for sharpening, not to mention the parchment sometimes wasn’t the smoothest to write on.  For anything that might need some enchantments, he would stick to the parchment and quill, but for simple blueprints for planning projects? His pad of muggle graph paper was perfect for the job.

 

He settled at the long table with the pad, pen, and his imagination to start sketching out the plans for the first clock he planned on making, Bill and Fleur’s.  It would need four hands, with room for expansion. Fleur had already stated she wanted to try for one more child in the hopes they would have a little boy, and had fought a smile when told as he remembered after each birth Molly would say the same thing about having a little girl.  

 

His smile faded when he thought of Molly again and scowled at the remembrance of her tea with the King and his hand clenched around the pen.  Why would she accept the invite and attend without her plus two?

 

Before he could think of an answer, the floo flared and a head poked through.  “Dad?”

 

“Hello, Ronald.”  Arthur called from where he sat at the table.  “Come on through.”

 

He shook his head.  “I just need to talk to Mum.  Hermione’s having a crisis and I don’t know what to do.”

 

Arthur wanted to laugh when he hear Hermione’s indignant voice faintly in the background, assuming she was complaining about what Ron said.  “Your mother is having tea with the king.” He stated, proud of himself for keeping the bitterness out of his voice.

 

The pride faded and was replaced with confusion when Ron simply nodded and shrugged.  “I suppose I’ll try back later, then. Thanks Dad.” Ron vanished before Arthur could respond and he stared flummoxed at the now empty floo.  Today was shaping up to be very odd indeed.

 

By mid afternoon, he had all the clocks designed and the papers were already filed appropriately away in his shed.  He was sitting in the living room filling out the crossword in the Prophet when the floo lit up again and in stepped his wife beaming brightly as soon as she set eyes on him.  “Arthur! Go get yourself ready, we are going to visit Harry, Draco, and Teddy. Teddy had his first sign of accidental magic and they want to celebrate.”

 

He blinked in bewilderment at that.  Celebrate...Teddy’s magic, not his birthday?  After a quiet day to himself, the intensity his wife could exude could be overwhelming.  Not to mention his little pool of upset that she had obviously completely forgotten that they had been spending his birthday quietly themselves since all the children left the nest.  And he wanted to hear about his wife’s tea! She was gone the entirety of the day, and he wanted to know why she was gone so long. “A moment, love. How was your tea today?”

 

“Hmm?”  She hummed absently and then looked at him with slightly wider eyes.  “Oh right, tea. It was lovely.”

 

And if that wasn’t a suspicious answer, his name wasn’t Arthur Weasley.  He readied himself to visit the boy they had folded into their flock, his stomach twisted into knots at the very suspicious behaviour of his wife.  She couldn't have actually visited the King for tea because she’s said nothing about it, and that was very out of character for Molly Weasley.

 

He dressed quickly, his eagerness to see his family overpowering his growing fear that Molly no longer loved him.  He could deal with that later after showering Teddy with love after his first display of magic, aside from his metamorphmagus abilities.  Even Teddy didn’t count changing his eye and hair color without thought as accidental magic, and had been waking up every morning since Christmas asking if he would show magic that day.  He was certain Harry and Draco were thankful that the constant questioning about magic manifestations would finally cease from the small boy.

 

The floo in the kitchen spat them out into a silent room, and he frowned at the darkness.  Grimmauld, for all its dreariness during the second war, was a bright a cheery place after Harry took a solid week to only work on remodeling the place.  Since the remodel was completed, none of the rooms had been ever in complete darkness.

 

Molly seemed to expect the darkness, however, because she silently led their little duo out the kitchen door and up the stairs.  “Harry said to meet them in the sitting room.” She said as they walked, and that seemed to provide a logical explanation as to why the kitchen and main floor were dark.

 

It does not explain why his wife is acting so strangely.

 

The sitting room door seemed to loom out at him from the hall and he resisted the urge to roll his eyes at himself.  He was here to support his honorary godson and the manifestation of his magic outside his metamorphmagus abilities. The flickering glow of the fire inside sent pulses of warm light through the crack under the door, and he pushed it open hoping to see Harry and his little family on the other side.  The house was too quiet, and his suspicions were growing.

 

“Happy birthday!”  The room exploded into loud singing, laughter, and shouting and he stepped back in alarm, his hand coming to press against his chest.

 

“Molly?”  Arthur couldn’t believe what he was seeing.  A large banner, obviously painted by his grandchildren, spelled out Happy Birthday Nonno, Teddy’s name for him since Blaise’s days living in Grimmauld with Harry and the gang just after they had graduated.

 

She kissed him briefly, stroking his cheek when she pulled back.  “Are you surprised?”

 

Surprised was an understatement.  

 

Arthur frowned and crossed his arms.  “What about this rot with the King? Did you really meet with the muggle King for tea, or was that a ruse?”

 

Molly just sighed with a fond little smile playing at the corners of her lips.  “Arthur, dear, the muggle royal ruler is the Queen. The tea was simply our little way of planning the party in secret.”

 

Arthur wanted to melt into the floor with embarrassment.  Of course he knew that it was the Queen who was ruling monarch, he simply forgot in his...absolutely and completely unnecessary panic.  

 

“The clock?”  He asked weakly, knowing she would have a clever answer, and she smirked.

 

“Disillusionment charm.  Draco and Hermione helped me to disguise the clock so it would only show you what you should were it any other day.  We couldn’t have you know that all your children were here instead of where you thought they would be.”

 

He really was a fool sometimes.  “I love you?” He tried, and to his relief his wife just laughed merrily and wrapped her arms around his waist.  

 

“And I love you.”  She kissed his nose and then shoved at his shoulder playfully.  “Now go! Harry tells me that Draco has brought something special for you and is terrorizing everyone because he’s so anxious about your reaction.  Please go put everyone out of their misery and gush over whatever trinket he bought you.”

 

Feeling better than he had all day, he kissed Molly gently before making his way back into the sitting room where everyone was gathered for his birthday.  

 

Tea with the King?  It sounded like a perfectly acceptable activity if you asked him.  Especially if it resulted in a surprise birthday party.

 

~~*~*~~

End

~~*~*~~

**Author's Note:**

> Day 4 Prompt: His wife was having tea with the King and he didn’t even know about it. 
> 
> Unbeta'd. Doing this for fun. Don't own.
> 
> Etc, etc, etc.
> 
> Takes place about five years after the war in February. Bill and Fleur have two kids - Victoire born mid 2000 so she is 3, nearly 4 and Dominique is a newborn born January 2nd. Charlie is not married, lives with his dragons still on the reserve and loves it. Percy and Audrey have Molly’s namesake who is nearly three. George and Angelina have a an 18 month old they named after Fred. Hermione and Ron are living together in muggle London, not too far from Grimmauld, but are not married yet. Harry and Draco live at Grimmauld, and they are raising Teddy together after Andromeda grew very ill the year Teddy was two. Ginny and Luna are together, and Ginny plays quidditch professionally while Luna travels the globe looking for rare and unusual creatures. 
> 
> I have a full length, chaptered story in the works with a working title of Raising Teddy, that outlines Teddy’s life from infancy to graduation from Hogwarts as he’s being raised by Harry and Draco, but I don’t know when I’ll actually get around to writing it. I have… a lot of in progress fics that I won’t start posting until I know I’ll finish them. This little flash fiction is a sort of prologue to that story, though it takes place in the first third of what I have planned so far.
> 
> The 30 Days of Flash Fiction 2018 collection is a collection of one shot flash fictions that are not connected in any fashion. Many will feature Drarry, as well as a variety of other pairings throughout their friends. I aim to post a story daily, though I only promise that I will post all 30 stories at some point - not that I will post them in exactly 30 days. Some stories will be short, some will be long, it all depends on how I respond to the prompt on a particular day.


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